West Bengal, Emami in pact for pulp, paper project

Kolkata, Feb 27 (IANS) West Bengal Industrial Development Corp (WBIDC) and the city-based Emami Group Friday inked a pact for setting up a greenfield integrated pulp and paper project at an investment of Rs.22 billion (Rs.2,200 crore). The proposed project at Kutikri in West Midnapore district will be part of a Paper and Allied Products Park being developed by WBIDC.

“There will be a high-end printing and writing paper plant with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes per annum. The plant will be developed using the state-of-the art technology from Scandinavia and Germany,” state Industries Minister Nirupam Sen said at the signing of the pact, where Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was also present.

R.S. Agarwal, joint chairman of the Emami Group, said around 1,415 acres will be required for the project, which is likely to be commissioned 42 months after the company got possession of land.

Asked whether acquiring land could pose problems in view of the recent controversies over land acquisition, the chief minister said “No”.

The project is expected to generate captive power of around 40 MW and employ around 1,000 people directly and 4,000 indirectly.

“To conserve energy, the plant will utilise the spent liquor from the process to generate steam and power for their captive use,” Agarwal said.

The project also envisages setting up of social infrastructure, including hospitals, school and market facilities, for the employees and the local population.